Abstract
While interdisciplinary collaboration is an evidence-based practice that is celebrated and encouraged, institutional structures (including academia) continue to perpetuate and reward siloed work. If we are truly committed to building an interdisciplinary practice that elevates both community and individual outcomes, we must actively seek out opportunities to engage in dialogue with expertise outside of our profession. In her book, Invisible Mothers, Dr. Garcia-Hallett offers social workers an opportunity for this interdisciplinary dialogue by using a criminological lens to amplify and explore the narratives of women of color about motherhood before, during, and after incarceration.
The main thesis of the book, from which the title is derived, is that when the motherwork of African American, West Indian, and Latina women does not conform with white, middle-class standards of mothering, it is rendered invisible and of no value by people and institutions in positions of power. At the same time, women of color's motherhood roles make them hypervisible to criminal-legal systems that are quick to punish women for actions that are construed as dangerous to children. The first chapter, “Motherwork,” illustrates the myriad ways that justice-involved women of color do care for their children. By including women with children of all ages (including adults), custodial mothers, nonresidential mothers, and mothers who are not in contact with their children, Dr. Garcia-Hallett demands that diverse forms of motherwork are seen and recognized. She describes the extraordinary efforts that are made to restore relationships after incarceration and the challenges that women face raising low-income children of color in a racist carceral state. In addition, her nuanced discussion of ethnic diversity within Black and Latino communities, with a focus on cultural differences and perceptions of law-breaking among and between African American and West Indian women, disrupts the Black-white binary that renders these important distinctions invisible.
While much of her writing aligns with critical social work practice, Dr. Garcia-Hallett's analysis of parenting classes, employment initiatives, child welfare systems, and substance abuse treatment programs may be difficult for social workers to read and digest. Her writing about the ways in which racist paradigms of motherhood have been weaponized against women of color are an indictment of criminal-legal systems and social work, especially child welfare schemes. The chapter about women's custody battles is subtitled, “I just want my baby back.” Indeed, the harm our profession has enacted is real, and seeing our work through the eyes of an Afro-Latina criminologist demands humility, self-reflection, and action. The compelling examples she shares of community-based agencies in New York that offer flexible and creative solutions to support justice-involved mothers, especially those related to housing, remind us that we can do better.
Invisible Mothers demonstrates the knowledge that can be derived by listening closely to individuals’ detailed reflections about their lived experiences and relationships. The data for this book was collected in 2014–2015, a fact that invites curiosity about if and how these narratives may be different today. While white supremacy culture continues to thrive in U.S. society, there have been intentional efforts to develop more anti-racist gender-responsive trauma-informed criminal-legal, substance abuse, and child welfare programming in the past decade. The racial dynamics of women's incarceration have also changed: The number of Black women who are incarcerated in the United States has decreased by 70% since 2000 and the number of white women has increased by 12% in the same time period, reflecting shifts in drug policy (especially related to crack cocaine). These trends suggest a possible shift in the perception of white women as innocent victims that might alter if and how their motherwork is seen. In addition, Garcia-Hallett's presentation of how heterosexual relationships with men impact women's motherwork encourages inquiry about same-sex intimate relationships, especially given that about 30% of incarcerated women identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Finally, this narrative analysis suggests that talking to African-American and Latino men about their fatherwork might help to extend our understanding beyond the stereotype of “absent or disengaged fathers” that Garcia-Hallett presents (p. 66).
In short, the book makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge about the lives of justice-involved African American, West Indian, and Latina mothers who are navigating the carceral state in the face of intersecting forms of oppression. The analysis interrogates the role of social workers in perpetuating institutional violence against vulnerable women and children and invites us to examine our practices in a new light.
